The lower levels are part of ‘The Forum’, a public area which includes a performance centre for dance, theatre and music, a cinema and a children’s workshop. The piazza outside is a popular place to watch street performers, while on the rue Rambuteau side of the piazza there is a reconstruction of the studio of Romanian-born artist Brancusi, who lived and worked in Paris from 1904 and bequeathed his entire collection to the French state.
Pompidou Centre
Opening times: 11am–10pm Wed–Mon;
Library: noon–10pm Wed–Mon (from 11am Sat, Sun and public hols)
Atelier Brancusi: 2–6pm Wed–Mon
Website:
www.centrepompidou.frTel: 01. 44 78 12 33
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Exit the Pompidou Centre onto the piazza and turn right. This complex of modern buildings is known as the Quartier de l’Horloge (the Clock Quarter) and consists of a warren of small streets and laneways, with Le Défenseur du Temps (The Defender of Time), a public clock by Jacques Monastier, located at its heart on rue Bernard de Clairvaux. This impressive brass-and-steel timepiece is a four-metre-high (13-foot) mechanical sculpture that weighs one tonne. An intriguing sight when static, the clock is currently scheduled for renovation and thus not in working order. When it does work it is possible to see the passage of time being defended from attack by elements such as air, earth and water, which come in the shape of dragons. These creatures attack at the approach of every hour to the sound of hurricanes, earthquakes and tidal waves.
No. 51 rue de Montmorency
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Leave the cluster of streets around Le Défenseur du Temps out onto rue St-Martin and turn right. Rue de Montmorency will be the third street on your right. No. 51
is considered to be the oldest house in Paris. It was built by Nicolas Flamel in 1407, a book-keeper and alchemist famous for always keeping open house for the poor of the city. All he asked in return was that they pray for the souls of the dead. The house is a charming little building in a pinkish sandstone, the ground floor of which is elaborately carved in places, but the carvings are so old
No. 51 rue de Montmorency
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